New law may let U.S. spy on citizens

Hasty legislating could give the White House more power over Americans than Congress intended.

August 19, 2007|By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, the New York Times

WASHINGTON -- Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include -- without court approval -- certain types of physical searches of U.S. citizens and the collection of their business records, Democratic congressional officials and other experts said.

Administration officials acknowledged they had heard such concerns from Democrats in Congress recently and that there was a continuing debate over the meaning of the legislative language. But they said the Democrats were simply raising theoretical questions based on a harsh interpretation of the legislation.

They also emphasized that there would be strict rules in place to minimize the extent to which Americans would be caught up in the surveillance.

The dispute illustrates how lawmakers, in a frenetic, end-of-session scramble, passed legislation they might not have fully understood and might have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought.

It also offers a case study in how changing a few words in a complex piece of legislation has the potential to fundamentally alter the basic meaning of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a landmark national-security law. Two weeks after the legislation was signed into law, there is still heated debate over how much power Congress gave to the president.

It is possible that some of the changes were the unintended consequences of the rushed legislative process just before this month's congressional recess, rather than a purposeful effort by the administration to enhance its ability to spy on Americans.

"We did not cover ourselves in glory," said one Democratic aide, referring to how the bill was compiled.

But a senior intelligence official who has been involved in the discussions on behalf of the administration said the legislation was seen solely as a way to speed access to the communications of foreign targets, not to sweep up the communications of Americans by claiming to focus on foreigners.

"I don't think it's a fair reading," the official said. "The intent here was pure: If you're targeting someone outside the country, the fact that you're doing the collection inside the country, that shouldn't matter."

Democratic leaders have said they plan to push for a revision of the legislation as soon as September. "It was a legislative overreach, limited in time," said one congressional Democratic aide. "But Democrats feel like they can regroup."